1. Field of the Invention
The invention disclosed broadly relates to the field of client-server computing, and more particularly relates to the field of network administration and management tools called logon scripts.
2. Description of the Related Art
The field of client-server computing continues to grow. Networks such as LANs, Intranets, the Internet and the World-Wide Web are based on client-server topologies. The growth of client-server computing has lead to an increase demand on the administration of networks by administrators.
The administrators must set up for each client, what shared applications the client will have access to, defining the desktop layout and security, and other client configurations. As an example, one application from Microsoft Corporation called Outlook often requires client user configuration guided by an installation wizard. However, many computer users may not know what to enter for the wizard or may provide incorrect values, so network administrators have made use of logon scripts to provide a pre-configured environment.
The term “logon script” is the set of executables or scripts or batch files that a client system runs during logon, which may be locally stored on the client of retrieved from a server that defines the resources, security and the configuration for each client. Operating systems 306 such as Microsoft Windows NT4.0 provide some setting for applications that can be configured automatically during the clients' boot-up and login in the client default profile or through system policies. However, some of the settings for applications and resources, such as mapping a drive letter to a network resource or connecting to a network printer or automatic software deployment, that fall between the cracks of what Windows NT allows administrators to configure automatically for each client. For these settings custom logon scripts files or custom executables have been used.
Logon scripts have been around with products such as Novell Inc.'s Netware™ products for years. The Novell products are not the only scripting products available, and other scripts are possible in operating system 306 such as Windows NT 4.0 Logon scripts are very useful tools in the network environment. Logon scripts automatically run during the logon process and can help set up the client working environment by copying files, creating connections, and launching applications. The logon process can be summarized as the sequence events between the time a user enters their authentication information (e.g., userid and password) and the time the computer is ready to be used (e.g. the desktop is loaded and the user can begin work).
In fact it is common today for most corporate networks to use logon scripts because they assist with centralized administration, however logon scripts are difficult to create, edit and administer. Also, logon scripts in certain environments such as Windows NT can be assigned to a single users or multiple user by entering the script name in the user manager for domains. The scripts are placed in the domain controller's NetLogon share (%systemsroot%\systems32\repl\import\scripts) and can be setup to replicate across all domain controllers for ease on the administrator. For further information on Windows NT refer generally to Microsoft Press, “Managing a Windows NT Network Notes from the Field”, Copyright 1999 Microsoft Corporation.
These logon scripts although useful for help administering and managing networks are not without there shortcomings. One shortcoming with logon scripts today is that they are written in a special scripting language or DOS batch files and must be hand edited and debugged. The requirement to write and debug logon scripts across an enterprise network installation is time consuming and expensive. Accordingly, a need exists for a method and apparatus to provide a centralized configuration.
Another shortcoming with current logon scripts is that they are cumbersome to manage across several clients. To centrally manage clients, network administrators make use of batch files and scripts that are customized to each client. The process of managing custom batch files for each user and/or computer is tedious. Moreover, the simple logon scripting languages, such as DOS batch files cannot support the complex features of network administration. More complex feature such as group memberships, printer deployment, proxy server access, MS Office paths, service packs, anti-virus updates, policies and automatic Outlook/Exchange mail profile creation are not supported in many logon scripts. The administrators of large networks are then forced to make a difficult choice of either learning a more complex logon scripting language and attendant debugger or forego supporting more complex features centrally in the network administration. Accordingly, a need exists for a method and an apparatus to provide administration of a plurality of clients across a network without that is able to handle more complex support features without the need to debug a single line of code.
Still another shortcoming with current logon scripts is that there is no method to validate if a desired setting is proper for a given user on a given client system. Stated differently, certain resources should not be set if a giving group, a selected operating system and a selected connection method is not meets. For example a logon script may request a certain drive letter for the client, say drive letter “O” to be mapped a particular resource, say a CD ROM on a server, however this can only happen if the user of the client is a member of a particular group. Today no method exists for the client to verify a logon script for one or more predefined conditions. Accordingly, a need exists for a method to permit clients to validate logon scripts.